Manufacturing technology orders up 3 percent year-to-date

June 9, 2014

April U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $91.53 million according to AMT - The Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO program), was down 20.4 percent from March but up 9.8 percent when compared with the total of $356.52 million reported for April 2013. With a year-to-date total of $1,620.83 million, 2014 is up 3.0 percent compared with2013.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“The manufacturing technology market is up 3 percent year-over-year thanks to March and April orders picking up the slack from the January and February weather-induced slowdown,” said Douglas K. Woods, AMT President. “Indicators such as the Purchasing Managers’ Index which surged forward in May and the optimism expressed by Oxford Economics in their spring update on our market suggest we are on track for strong 2014.”

The USMTO report, compiled by the trade association representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national U.S. orders data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology orders provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.

NOTE: AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology’s intent is to always provide timely and accurate economic reports to our community. For this reason, we are making an adjustment to the USMTO report. Due to a change in survey participants the year over year comparison number for Metal Forming and Fabricating is not an accurate reflection of the data. We have adjusted the data for the past 12 months to take this change into consideration. The new chart reflects a consistent year over year comparison of the data at the current participation level.

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U.S. manufacturing technology orders are also reported on a regional basis for six geographic breakdowns of the United States.

Northeast Region— At $62.72 million, manufacturing technology orders in the Northeast Region in April were down 6.9 percent when compared with the $67.39 million tally for March and down 10.6 percent from the total for April 2013.

Southeast Region— Year-to-date 2014 manufacturing technology orders in the Southeast Region through April totaled $150.47 million, 16.6 percent more than the comparable figure for 2013.

North Central-East Region— April manufacturing technology orders in the North Central-East Region totaled $99.57 million, down 50.3 percent from March’s $200.41 million but up 47.4 percent when compared with last April. At $470.74 million, year-to-date 2014 was up 11.9 percent when compared with 2013 at the same time.

North Central-West Region— April manufacturing technology orders in the North Central-West Region totaled $64.90 million, 3.2 percent less than the April 2013 total of $67.07 million.